Great Western Coffee Shop

From a public follow up on our Facebook Page, Meet the MD follow up post (https://www.facebook.com/CoffeeShopCRP/photos/a.2247872375459869/2432159030364535/), reproduced here with permission:

I enjoy the GWR network, especially the Southwest.  It frustrate me that the beautiful Devon and Cornwall is difficult to get to from South Dorset via Yeovil or Castle Cary for longer days out.

My initial answer:

Indeed ... by "South Dorset" are you thinking Weymouth / Portland / Dorchester / Wareham / Swanage / Bridport?
 
Passenger flows from most of these places have grown up eastward - Poole, Bournemouth, Southampton with a secondary flow to Yeovil. It would have been very different had the original plan for the early railway to Dorchester extended westwards ... but instead it does a sharp left there now and goes down to Weymouth. The Heart of Wessex line has a sporadic service and connections westwards on the SWR or GWR main lines are pretty random and (sadly for you) will not be a connection given priority in the timetable recast in December ...nor I suspect in the future, with the SNTBs of Western Peninsular looking at transport in Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, and Western Gateway looking at BPC, Dorset, Wiltshire excluding Swindon, and the wider Bristol area and Gloucestershire.

Suggestion - an interesting topic to discuss at http://gwr.passenger.chat/b19 - sister forum to this page - where we have lots of experts (and lots of opinions!)

A follow up from the original poster - which illustrated just how hard it is to format long responses on Facebook ... so I have made some editorial amends:

Thanks for this. Yes, At some point toward the New Forest you would travel via Southampton. My twice hourly service from Hamworthy allows better connections into the up wey - yeo / c Cary services.

At it best I use the 0803 from Hamworthy into the 0853 from Weymouth, are Yom 0934, Just missed the 0939 to Exeter st David's, So it 1143 Arr. Via c Cary it better 1116. The bus service in Yeovil now involve 2 buses between the two stations via the bus station. My return journey, 2025 from st David's are the 2128, Taxi over to Yom, couple of beers in hotel then the 2223 d w, walkies to ds where it connects with the 2310 wey to the lovely HAMWORTHY.

I go on the internet to keep up to date on SERUG who want to see train units attach and detach at yj instead of Salisbury for London and other destinations. As soon as Weymouth was mentioned I joined. To work out what the problem was, A quick word with Barry Doe and it's signalling for the attachment, So come on Network Rail. Any chance for a longer day in the Southwest attached to a London unit.

This saga has been going on for at least 40 years of my life. As we approach Dec 19, reliable contacts and web info I have no doubt that HAMWORTHY is to take the a hit. My gateway to the rail network via Southampton and I am sure my twice hourly service to the West.

Looking forward to Taunton in October. CHEERS.

There are the X51 & X53 buses which run from Dorchester and Weymouth respectively to Axminster via Bridport and Lyme Regis.  Most of these give a reasonable connection into the Waterloo to Exeter service

Just been following up ... Wareham / Hamworthy / Holton Heath area to Exeter
Google suggests ... train, bus, train  - 3 hours 22 minutes via Dorchester and Axminster
National Express offers  - 2 hours 40 minutes on the (daily) National Express coach
Trainline - purely trains - offers a typical journey time of 3 hours 47 minutes
For those with their own vehicle, Google came up with 2 hours exactly, 74 miles.